


Just no Getting Over You

by nerdyscully (dalecooperscoffee)



Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friends to Lovers, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Prom, Recreational Drug Use, casual misogny, gob is a fuckboy, it's very cheesy, tony is a theatre kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-05-06 00:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14630157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalecooperscoffee/pseuds/nerdyscully
Summary: It's Gob's senior year of high school, and he wants to be prom king. He strikes up a friendship with Tony Wonder, who's also running for prom king. Gob can't stop thinking about Tony, and he thinks it's because they're rivals. Obviously, Gob is very clueless.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yeah the title is a lyric from Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease, i love being cheesy
> 
> this whole fanfic is kinda cheesy and stereotypical but i couldn't get the idea out of my mind, so i wrote this. hopefully i should be able to update this regularly! enjoy!

“Are you actually doing this? When have you ever cared about prom?” Michael asked when he saw his brother come home with copies of posters he had made the night before. The posters were covered in dumb slogans like ‘VOTE GOB FOR PROM KING -- IT’LL BE MAGICAL!’. He had glued cards onto the signs that he used for his magic tricks--sorry, _illusions_ \--along with pictures of his own face. Michael was, to say the least, skeptical that he would win.

“Of course I care about prom! I’m thinking of asking Sally Sitwell.” Gob wasn’t, but he wanted to see his brother’s reaction when he said that.

“What? Why? You don’t even talk to her! She won’t say yes!” Michael protested.

Gob laughed. “You’re so gullible, Mikey. No, I’m gonna wait for a girl to ask _me._ ”

“...you know that’s not how it works, right?”

He scoffed. “Don’t be sexist. If a girl wants to ask me enough, she will.”

“Good luck with that, then,” Michael rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to do his homework.

Gob didn’t really care that much about prom, but he cared about winning. The guys he hung around with said prom was stupid, but they were going anyway with whatever girlfriends they had that week and were planning on getting smashed beforehand and renting hotel rooms afterward. They had invited Gob to join their group (almost reluctantly), but even _he_ knew he would stick out if he didn’t have a date. But he was convinced he’d find some easy girl. Probably not Sally Sitwell, but someone.

Being prom king, though, that would make everything seem perfect in the end. All the other guys that were running were jocks or theatre kids, like that guy Tony Wonder. Gob _hated_ that guy. He looked so smug, and why wouldn’t he be? He was always getting the leads in the school plays and having cute girls surround him all the time. And to top it all off, he did magic too. He performed last year at the school talent show and everyone seemed to love him from then on. But Gob knew he was a _way_ better magician than that guy.

It had become Gob’s goal to win prom king and take that stupid plastic crown right out of Tony’s hands. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Tony’s handsome face.

Gob stopped for a moment. Did he just think Tony was handsome? His rival? Whatever. Tony was still stupid.

* * *

 

Gob was putting up his posters after school when he ran into the boy he wasn’t able to get off his mind. “Oh, hey,” Tony said, that dumb smile on his face.

“Hello,” Gob said curtly.

“You’re running for prom king too? Nice!”

Why was he being so kind? Probably a coverup for something. “Yeah, I am. I just thought, y’know...why not, I guess,” he said, trying to be nonchalant, but not too nonchalant.

“A little competition is always fun,” he grinned, “Hey, who are you going to prom with?”

“I, uh, don’t know just yet. Got a lot of girls to choose from, y’know. What about you?”

Tony’s expression faltered for just a moment. “Oh. I mean, I don’t know. It’s like...it’s complicated.”

He had successfully piqued Gob’s interest. “What’s so complicated about it?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you. I mean, I guess I can trust a fellow magician, right?”

Gob quirked an eyebrow up. Maybe if he had some dirt on Tony, it would give Gob the opportunity to sabotage him and get that prom king title. “Sure.”

“Well, the thing is, I’m gay,” he said, looking a bit nervous. Probably because he knew the type of guys Gob hung around with. They weren’t the friendliest to the other gay kids at school (of which there were few). “But I’m not really ‘out of the closet’.” he said with air quotes, his fingers in the shape of a ‘W’.

“What’s with that?” Gob imitated it.

“Oh, that’s like, my trademark, I guess. Tony _Wonder_. W.”

“That’s cool. I should do something like that.”

“Hey. Don’t. Okay?”

Gob backed off. “Okay, okay. Anyway, so you’re gay? But you hang around with girls all the time?”

“You can be gay and have friends of the opposite sex.”

“Oh. Yeah. That makes sense.” _I do not get this lifestyle,_ Gob thought. “So why not go with one of them? Or do you have your eye on some guy or whatever?”

“Like I said, it’s complicated. Anyway, I gotta go to rehearsal. Let’s hang out sometime, yeah?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we definitely should!”  And with that, they said goodbye.

The conversation with Tony left Gob sort of...buzzing. He wasn’t sure why, maybe it was because Tony was a magician too. Maybe because when he said that he wanted to hang out with Tony, he actually meant it. He knew that if anyone from his group of friends (friends was kind of a loose term, wasn’t it?) saw him with Tony, they would have some comments about it. But for some reason Gob didn’t care.

Before he left to go home for the day, he put one of his posters up next to a poster for the musical. Maybe he would’ve put his poster over the musical’s, but he couldn’t bring himself to, for some reason.

* * *

 

The two of them saw each other in the cafeteria the next day, and Tony was the one to smile first. Gob smiled back, wishing that he could walk up to Tony and sit with him and talk about magic or something.

But then he remembered that they were rivals and even though Tony had kind of a nice smile and messy hair but in a handsome way, he was competition. Gob went to sit with his friends, turning his back to Tony.

The guys at the table were talking about how Jason had scored a gram of weed for twenty dollars. “Gob, got a date to prom yet?” one of the guys asked, opening a Red Bull.

“You know me...gotta find the best girl,” he forced a chuckle, not very convincingly. “Sally already got a date, though.”

“You gotta get on that, man,” Jason said. “Or else you’re gonna be going to prom alone.”

“Can’t I just go with friends?” Gob asked. This whole prom thing was giving him a headache.

“No, dude, only girls can go with friends. Guys don’t do that shit.” the table voiced their agreement. “You either get a date, go alone, or not at all.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Gob said, scrambling to get off the topic. “Are we smoking after school?”

“Yeah, but we can’t do it out in the back anymore,” Jason said. “The theatre teacher dude caught us. He’s such a homo.”

“I don’t get those theatre kids,” a boy named Brandon added. “So annoying.”

“Yeah,” Gob scoffed, his mind flashing to Tony goddamn Wonder for the five-hundredth time that day. “So weird. Like, homo much?” he tried not to grimace, glad that Tony wasn’t in earshot. He tuned out of the rest of the conversation, hoping that the next few hours could pass by fast so he could go smoke and _hopefully_ stop thinking about stupid, handsome, Tony.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the nice comments on chapter one! i know this fic is a little cheesy, but it is a high school AU, so don't take it too seriously. enjoy this chapter!

The school musical was opening in a few days. And prom was in less than two weeks. And, this was not necessarily correlated with either of those things, but Gob was failing English. It was that last essay he turned in--it was worth a big part of his grade, and he completely bullshitted it. Sometimes that worked, but not with this essay. He had received a failing grade on the essay and that brought his already sub-par English grade down. He really didn’t want to repeat senior year. He needed to get his grade up.

The teacher had said if you went to the school musical, you would get some extra credit. Gob didn’t  _ hate _ musicals. They were kind of gay, yeah, but sometimes they were a little fun. He liked Wizard of Oz when he was a kid. Him and Michael used to pretend to be the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion (Michael was the Cowardly Lion, of course) and Lindsay would be Dorothy. Buster was too little to play most of the but sometimes they’d make him be the Scarecrow. So he could survive two hours of a musical in order to get his English grade up.

He just had to make sure none of his friends knew. They would never let him hear the end of it. Gob internally grumbled, thinking of them making fun of him for going to a musical. Didn’t  _ they _ like the Wizard of Oz as kids? 

He was getting ready to go on the opening night of the show, agonizing over what to wear. Didn’t people get dressed up to go to the theatre? His mother always did. But he didn’t want to look like he was trying  _ too _ hard. He settled on a button up, purple shirt and jeans. It was still too early to leave. He walked out to the kitchen, looking for something to eat out of boredom.

“Hey, Gob, why are you all dressed up?” Michael asked. He was sitting at the dining room table doing his homework.  _ Like the perfect little child he is, _ Gob thought bitterly.

“Going somewhere. A date,” he lied.

“Oh. With who?”

“Is it your business?”

“Don’t be such a smartass,” Michael groaned. “With who?”

The name Tony flashed in Gob’s mind. That could be a girl’s name, too, right? “Her name is Toni.”

“I’ve never met her, does she go to our school?”

“Uh, no. She goes to a private school. She’s, like, super smart.”

“Yeah, sure. What are you two going to do together?” 

“We’re going to a movie. It’s kind of lame but we’ll probably just make out in the back row,” he said, trying to be convincingly smug.

“Have fun then,” Michael shook his head and went back to his homework.

* * *

 

Gob threw on a jacket and got in his car, driving to the school. When he arrived, he was given a playbill with everyone in the cast’s name. The musical was  _ Grease, _ which he was pretty sure was a movie Lindsay liked. And his dad did not like it, because John Travolta was a scientologist. He found the name Tony Wonder, playing someone named “Teen Angel”, whatever that meant. There was a headshot of him in black and white next to his name. Gob mused that he had a nice smile--no wonder girls hung around him and fawned over him. Even if he was gay.

Tony’s smile. God. Why was he thinking of that? Gob knew he probably had a better smile than him anyway. He made sure to keep his ticket stub to turn in for extra credit as he filed into the theatre. No one he knew was there, thank God.

The people he was seated to looked really excited--they were a family, and their kid was probably in the show or something. Gob felt a bit awkward. They were chattering enthusiastically while he sat there silently. An older lady who Gob assumed was someone’s mom was friendly enough to turn to him and smile. “Do you have any friends in the show?”

“Uh, yeah,” Gob lied.

“That’s nice. I’m here to see my son.”

“I’m sure he’ll do a great job,” he replied, and the lights were dimming and the show began. 

It was really corny, but Gob didn’t hate it. It wasn’t the most agonizing time he had ever spent. And Tony was up there singing with all the other guys in the chorus. Gob wondered why he didn’t have a halo or something, since he was supposed to be an angel. The girl who played the main female part was pretty, he guessed, but not like Sally Sitwell pretty. His eyes weren’t drawn to her the way they were drawn to…

Nevermind. Before he knew it, act one was over. The family next to him was cheering wildly. “Isn’t it so  _ good _ ?” the lady next to him asked.

“Yes, of course,” Gob nodded stiffly, though he wasn’t lying to her this time. He went out to the lobby to get some candy from a vending machine before going back in for the next act. Not far into the second act, Tony appeared and sang a whole song by himself. And it was entrancing. He could really sing. And all the girls cheered when he finished. Damn. How was Gob gonna win against him? Maybe he would’ve accepted defeat right there and then, but Gob Bluth was not a quitter.

After the show (which had an appropriately cheesy ending), the cast came out to the lobby. Gob passed by Tony, who called out, “Gob!”

He turned around. Tony was standing there, wearing a leather jacket and a crooked smile. “Oh, hey Tony,” Gob said, flustered.

“I honestly didn’t expect you to come,” he said. 

Gob couldn’t tell him that he was only coming for extra credit. “Yeah, I...thought it looked interesting,” he smiled back.

“Did you like it?”

“Yeah. Your song was pretty good. Maybe that could be your thing. Singing magician.”

He chuckled. “Hey, thanks. It’s cool of you to come. I know this isn’t your normal...thing.”

“Well, I don’t always have to do everything my friends do, you know?” even Gob’s friends found the magic stuff weird, but they tolerated it because Gob had always been the weird one, despite getting the most girls out of any of them.

“Yeah. Yeah, I like that,” Tony said. “Listen, I still don’t have a date to prom and--” before he could finish his thought, he was swarmed by his family. It turned out they were the family that Gob was sitting next to the whole show. They gave him flowers and hugs, and Tony was obviously not going to be able to break away from them. Gob gave him a wave, which he wasn’t even sure if Tony saw. 

As he drove home, he wondered what Tony was going to ask him. He wondered if he didn’t stick around because he was scared of the end of that question. It’s not like he would’ve asked him out...he knew Gob was straight. Gob knew Gob was straight. That was an indisputable fact, despite the fact that he thought about Tony more than he thought about girls that used to occupy his mind. But it was because they were  _ rivals. _ And maybe Tony wasn’t taking that as seriously as Gob was, but what did that matter? Gob had the insatiable competitive drive of a rich white kid who had never been denied anything before and loved winning more than anything. 

He just didn’t get why this time, shit felt different. He tried to screw over his friends all the time, like when Jason went out with that girl Amy who had huge cans and Gob ended up getting her to sleep with him behind Jason’s back (he was pretty sure Jason was still a little bitter about that, but the amount of pills they both took made the memories a little fuzzy). All this thinking was giving him a headache. He really hoped he could break into his parents’ liquor cabinet when he got home, because nothing else was getting this off his mind.

When Gob arrived home, Michael was up, sitting on the couch watching late night TV with Lindsay. “Hey, Gob, how was your date?” he asked him.

Gob didn’t reply and went rummaging through the liquor cabinet, finding a bottle of vodka and sitting down on the couch.

“That bad?” Michael grimaced. “What, did she not put out? Did you finally get told ‘no’ for the first time in your life?”

Even though Gob had dug himself into that whole, Michael’s words still annoyed him. “Shut up,” he said, taking himself and the vodka bottle to his bedroom, drinking and listening to the radio until his thoughts blended together and he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (tony's character in grease is the guy who sings Beauty School Dropout if you didn't catch that. i looked it up online and that character is officially called Teen Angel lol). i don't know why this chapter got so angsty toward the end it just happened? gob is kind of like that though. be a mess in a funny way, and then turn around and realize you're a mess in a messy, sad way. it be like that sometimes
> 
> thank you again for reading and please leave a comment if you are so inclined!! xoxox


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the comments on the past chapters! i have loved reading them! i hope you enjoy this chapter!

They ran into each other again a few days later after school. Gob was looking through his locker when Tony came up behind him and said, “hey”. It startled him, and he gasped and jumped a little. Tony snorted. “Sorry, scare you?”

“Um. No. Not at all. What’s up?” Gob closed his locker and turned around to face Tony, hoping his cheeks weren’t still red from the embarrassment of being scared by him.

“So, after the show, I was gonna ask you something, but my family kinda...smothered me.”

Gob blinked a few times, remembering that encounter for what must’ve been the 50th time between those three days. What the hell was Tony going to ask him? “Oh, yeah, that,” Gob said, as nonchalantly as possible. “What’s up?”

“So, you’re a magician, and I’m a magician, so I was thinking we could do a double act together at prom? I was talking to the coordinators, and they said we could do it just before they announce the royalty.” 

Gob wasn’t disappointed per se, rather it was something that he wasn’t expecting.  _ I don’t know what I expected, _ he thought,  _ why did I expect him to ask me out? _

_...why did I want him to ask me out? _

“Gob, you okay? You’re staring into space.” Tony’s brows furrowed.

“Oh, um, yeah! I-I..s-sure! Why not.”

“So that’s a yes for the magic act?” 

Gob nodded, hoping he didn’t look too eager. “Yeah, we’d...we’d have to practice though, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the other part, I thought we’d have to rehearse together. We don’t have a lot of time, so I was wondering what you were up to today?”

Gob didn’t really didn’t have anything to do that day--or any day. But the idea hanging out with Tony made him nervous. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Tony. He liked Tony  _ a  _ lot. And it scared him. It scared him because he didn’t know  _ how _ he liked Tony. Sometimes he wondered if it was more than admiration and more than friends, and it didn’t just scare him, it fucking terrified him. It terrified Gob that when Tony smiled, his stomach twisted up in knots and his face turned red. No one had ever been able to do that to him before. And he didn’t expect it to be Tony to do this to him.

But Gob couldn’t dwell on this for much longer, because it was getting harder to look like he was thinking about his schedule. “I’m not doing anything today. I can rehearse.”

“Great! Where do you usually practice?”

Gob didn’t want to say that it was usually in his room with his radio on full blast, practicing illusions with adrenaline pumping through him until his mother banged on his door and told him to “turn that the hell off”. “Uh, you know...we could do it in one of the music rooms.”

“Sounds good,” Tony smiled, and Gob’s stomach did that thing that he hated and loved at the same time.

They sat on risers in the choir room, brainstorming about what kind of illusions they could do together. They talked about an act involving doves (“Probably shouldn’t do that one,” Tony said, “I don’t wanna release doves indoors”. Gob was inclined to agree). ‘Saw the lady in half’ was seen as too cliche. They couldn’t do anything involved with fire without the prom night turning into something  _ Carrie- _ esque. They decided on a disappearing act, but the logistics weren’t worked out. 

“Do you...wanna grab coffee?” Gob asked, the words coming out of his mouth before he could stop them. “I just need to get away from school, y’know? I’ll drive.”

“Okay, sounds great.” Tony grinned. 

They walked to Gob’s car, enveloped by the early May California heat for a few minutes before Gob turned the A/C on full blast in his car. “You know, I haven’t gone out to coffee with someone for...a really long time. Well, I’ve never gone out to coffee with someone,” Tony admitted with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

“You don’t go on lots of dates?” Gob asked. “N-not like this is a date, obviously.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I know you’re straight Gob,” Tony said. “And no, I’m not really out to anyone except a few people, and so there’s no one to really go out with.” Tony shrugged and turned the air vent away from directly blowing in his face.

“I...this is kind of a weird question, but if you’re only out to a few people, why did you tell me?” Gob didn’t know why he was asking him that, but it was something that he had been wondering for awhile. 

“Remember what I said, you’re a fellow magician, and magicians never reveal each other’s secrets,” Tony said. “Also, I don’t know. Your friends are kind of douches, no offense. But you...I dunno. The guys you hang out with, they wouldn’t do magic. But you don’t really care what people think about you, and it’s cool. You’re just, cool, I guess.”

“The whole magic thing...my friends make fun of it behind my back. I know they do. But, if I gave up magic...I dunno, it wouldn’t feel right,” Gob suddenly became acutely aware of how grave he was sounding, “And I wouldn’t be able to get out of gym!”

They pulled up to the Starbucks, sitting at a table outside after ordering. Tony looked at Gob’s drink with a bemused smile. “Is that a milkshake?” he asked.

“No, it’s has coffee in it. It’s just blended...and has caramel and whipped cream. It’s good, okay?”

“I’m sure it is,” Tony said, taking a sip of his plain Americano. “So, you ready to graduate?”

“Um, yeah!” Gob lied. “You?”

“I think so. I mean, I hope so. I want to make my parents proud, y’know?”

Gob nodded, though he didn’t really know. His parents hadn’t said the word “proud” in relation to him ever. “Yeah, I, uh...I do, too,” he admitted, not lying at all this time. Still, he’d be surprised if his parents even showed up to the graduation ceremony. “You have a brother, right?” he asked Tony.

“Yeah. I’ve seen your little brother around. Michael, right?”

Gob internally groaned. He didn’t want to talk about Michael right now. “Yeah. He’s the perfect child.”

“You really think that?” Tony swirled his straw around in his drink.

“I mean, it’s what my parents think, as far as I know.”

“My parents are pretty cool, for the most part,” Tony said. “But I know not everyone’s are.”

“Do they know? About the whole gay thing?”

“No. I honestly don’t think they’d be upset. We’re Jewish, and the religion is pretty gay-friendly. I guess I’m just...nervous,” he looked embarrassed all of a sudden, and Gob wanted to fix it. 

“Hey, I get it. I mean, I’m not gay, but I get it,” he said, confirming that he was not gay for about the 10th time that afternoon.

“I’m sure you do,” Tony said, but Gob was pretty sure he was sarcastic. “I’m sure that they’ll figure it out eventually. My brother is as straight as they come, so I’m sure they’ll get all the grandkids that they want.” 

They talked a little bit more, about school and parents and magic. Tony lived in walking distance of the school; he didn’t have a car, so Gob offered to drive him home. They got back in the car, turning on the radio. Tony told him the directions, and he parked on the curb by Tony’s little, cozy looking suburban house. “Hey, thanks. I mean it,” Tony said. “It was fun.”

“Yeah, I had fun too. We’ll talk more about our magic act soon,” Gob said. He was looking in Tony’s eyes, and he suddenly realized they were a really nice blue-grey color. He always liked blue eyes…

“Of course,” Tony said, blushing a little when he realized how intensely Gob was looking at him. “I’m glad I got to know you, Gob.”

Gob smiled, and they were leaning closer together, and Tony suddenly closed the gap between them and they were kissing. And Tony’s lips were really soft. Softer than Gob would imagine a dude’s lips being. And Gob didn’t hate kissing him, even though he was a dude. He liked it. He  _ really  _ liked it, and he was just about to pull Tony a little closer to him...and then Tony pulled away. “I-I’m sorry,” he said, breathless.

“It’s okay! I…” Gob said, but he was interrupted.

“I gotta go. Sorry,” Tony fumbled out of the car and walked into his house, and Gob drove away feeling more confused than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! this chapter was a little difficult to write but i pushed through and i hoped it turned out alright! xoxox


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, and happy almost season 5! i'm so excited to see what this season has in store! i hope you all enjoy this chapter, and thank you for all the sweet comments!

Kissing Tony had done nothing to get him off Gob’s mind. There was a whole weekend before he would see Tony again, and he needed a distraction. If he had any weed left, he would smoke. And he didn’t feel like drinking--it just gave him a headache. He could’ve hit up his friends, but he didn’t want to, because they weren’t really his friends. He could never sit down with them and have a conversation like he had with Tony. And he had known that group since elementary school, and Tony since...a few weeks ago.

After a restless Friday night, Gob walked into the kitchen late Saturday morning. Michael was eating cereal with Lindsay. “Hey,” Gob said, plopping into a chair beside them. “Where’s Bustie?”

“Went shopping with mom,” Michael said, mouth full of cereal. Lindsay gave him a disgusted look.

“Oh,” Gob said, looking up at the ceiling. “What are you doing today?”

“I dunno. Homework. Why, since when do you wanna spend time with me?” Michael asked with that dumb, challenging, smug ass look. 

“You’re just so  _ boring _ , Mikey,” Gob groaned. “When was the last time you had fun? Doing science homework?” Even Lindsay chuckled at that.

“Oh shut up,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“Gob, who are you taking to prom?” Lindsay asked. “Because Sally Sitwell is going with Andrew, and I still need a date.”

“And you want a hotter date so you can one-up Sally, right?” Michael asked.

“No!” she denied. “That would be stupid.”

“I’m sick of hearing about prom,” Gob said honestly. He was tired of talking about prom because the one person who he actually cared about enough to go with was way out of his reach. “It’s just some dumb dance.”

“I thought you were running for prom king?” Lindsay raised an eyebrow. “Competition too tough?”

“Well of course I wanna  _ win _ , but that’s all that matters to me.”

“As usual,” Lindsay said dryly. “Just don’t do one of your stupid magic tricks, or I’ll never tell anyone you’re my brother ever again.”

Gob didn’t even know Lindsay had told people they were related to begin with.

* * *

It was Monday, and Gob was glad to be away from his home and his thoughts. But every time he saw Tony during the school day, Tony avoided eye contact. Did he think he was mad at him? He wasn’t. He was the opposite of mad. He was confused, sure, and a little uncomfortable, but he still wanted to talk to Tony. He couldn’t lose this relationship, whatever this was. All he knew was that it was real and genuine.

Gob caught Tony after school. “Tony,” he said, almost breathless, “I’m not mad at you, I need you to know that,” everything came out rushed, because he was worried about Tony not believing him and leaving him. 

Tony looked surprised. “You’re not?”

“I’m really not,” he said, well aware of the fact that his face was roughly the color of a tomato. “What happened...happened.”

“Yeah, I guess I should apologize, huh,” Tony said. “I don’t do that stuff usually--I’ve  _ never _ done that.”

“It’s okay. I’m really not mad. We were both swept up in the moment and I was looking at you and you were looking at me and...you know,” Gob was really putting his foot in his mouth, but he didn’t know how to stop it.

“...you’re straight, right Gob?”

“Of course! Of course I’m straight,” he replied quickly. “I love women! Like, boobs, am I right? I guess you wouldn’t get it. But boobs are great.”

Tony looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh, but it just came out as a snort. “I guess us gay guys are missing out.”

“Oh, totally,” Gob scoffed. “Anyway, we should work on our illusion, right?”

“Sure,” Tony smiled. His shoulders didn’t look so stiff now, and he seemed less on edge. Gob was relieved as well. He wasn’t going to lose Tony. They had an extra long practice that day.

* * *

 

“I think this is turning out really good,” Tony said when it had reached the late afternoon and they had tired themselves out working on their illusion. It was hot in the choir room, and they had worked pretty hard. Tony’s hair was sticking to his forehead a little and his lips--his  _ lips _ were really red. And Gob was staring at them. Fuck. “Whatcha thinking about, Gob?” Tony asked him.

“Kissing you.” Gob said, without a second thought, and he instantly regretted it. “I-I mean.”

“What about kissing me?”

“Just...that time that we did.”

“Yeah, that was my first kiss, you know,” Tony looked away in a rare moment of sheepishness. 

“Oh. Sorry it had to be with a straight guy.”

“It’s okay. It was nice,” Tony said, still not looking at Gob. “You’re a pretty good kisser. You know, for a straight guy.”

Gob laughed lightly. He was pretty sure that was the first time someone told him he was a good kisser, and it was validating, even if it came from a gay guy. “Thanks,” he dared to lift his head up and look at Tony, who was way closer to him than he thought. “You’re not so bad yourself, actually.”

“Oh come on, you don’t have to flatter me,” Tony said, and Gob wondered if they were unintentionally flirting.

“If you’re that self-conscious, I think I should flatter you,” Gob said, eyes locked on Tony’s lips now. 

“Would you kiss me again?” Tony asked, bravely.

Suddenly Gob’s voice dropped just above a whisper. “Can I?”

Tony nodded stood on his toes while Gob leaned down, and Gob felt his body melt in the way that your body does when something feels really good, like a hot bath or eating the most delicious chocolate. That’s what kissing Tony was like. And he was afraid, but in that moment it was hard to think of anything but Tony’s lips, moving against his, Tony’s hands, tentatively running up and down his back. 

When they pulled away, Tony sank back down on his feet, looking almost as if he wasn’t breathing. “That was…”

Gob was tempted to run away this time, but he instead completed Tony’s sentence for him. “Magic?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah...magic.”

_ Damn, I’m really gonna have to work through these feelings, aren’t I? _ Gob asked himself, leaning down to kiss Tony again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this chapter was okay. i've been so busy lately, i wrote this chapter in several sittings because it was hard to get back into the rhythm of writing again. but thanks for reading! xoxo


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been awhile since the last update! i was kind of struggling with this chapter, i don't 100% love it, but i feel like it is good and it progresses the story. i hope that you all enjoy it, and thank you for the kind comments!

Gob wasn’t really a chain smoker, but when something serious was on his mind, he could go through a whole pack of cigarettes without thinking much about it. And Gob definitely had something on his mind now. It was Wednesday--two days since he had made out with Tony in the choir room. It was on its way to becoming a habit at this point. Making out, then not speaking about it. 

Kissing Tony was incredible; it kind of reminded Gob of performing, in a way. The adrenaline rush, the way his stomach dropped, the way it lit up every single nerve in his body. He thought about kissing Tony a lot. More than he ever expected. So Gob sat under the bleachers after school and thought and smoked. He saw some girls walk towards the bleachers and sighed, hoping they weren’t coming to talk to him. But of course, they were. 

It was Eve Holt and a few of her friends. Gob had been out with Eve Holt a felt times and fucked her once. Her family was religious, and she  _ technically _ was, but she didn’t seem to practice Christianity very faithfully considering how her and Gob had fucked in the back of his car a few months ago. She was okay. That’s all she struck Gob as--okay. Still, her and her friends were coming towards him, and he couldn’t just run away like an asshole. So Gob smiled, a cigarette between his teeth. “Hey Eve,” he said.

“Hi Gob,” she replied. One of her friends curled their lips at the smell of smoke. “Whatcha doing out here?”

“Nothing,” he lied. “Hey, are you going to prom?” he asked. Eve was fine, and they had been on a couple dates already. It wouldn’t be  _ unbearable _ to spend the night with her, though he knew the whole time he’d be thinking about the boy who was shorter than him and wore tacky clothes and did that dumb “W” sign with his hands and was an amazing kisser. But those thoughts could be solved by getting drunk enough. Eve nodded excitedly in response to Gob’s question.

“Wanna go with me?” he asked. Eve grinned, and her friends giggled.

“Sure,” she said. “Sure, that would be fun! I thought you already had a date!!”

“Nah, I was just...waiting for the right girl,” Gob smashed the butt of his cigarette into the ground. Eve giggled again. 

“Thanks Gob! Call me, okay? And we’ll figure stuff out!” she smiled as her and her friends left, and Gob  _ guessed _ she had a pretty smile. She was just Eve. Really girls were just...girls, to Gob. He liked their bodies and kissing them, but it didn’t give him that rush that he had experienced two days ago in the choir room. Is that what being gay was? Fuck. He hated feeling like this. 

And yet despite all this confusion, Gob went to see Tony, because he felt right when he was around Tony, he felt good, he felt  _ happy _ . And he needed to feel happy, even for just a minute.

* * *

They met that evening at a greasy spoon diner. Gob was happy to be away from his family, and Tony was happy to see Gob. They still didn’t talk about The Kiss, but things were pretty much normal. “I got a date to prom,” Gob said once they were seated at a table.

“Oh yeah?” Tony raised an eyebrow, and Gob couldn’t read his expression. He didn’t look disappointed. “Who?”

“Eve Holt.”

“Oh yeah, I know her. She sat next to me in chemistry.”

“Yeah, she’s alright.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Just alright?”

“Just alright.” Gob said, not really wanting to elaborate because he knew that he would end up rambling and admitting things he didn’t want to.

“Well, I’m thinking of going with one of my friends from the theatre. Her name is Anna, she knows I’m not into girls, but she’s pretty cool. Do you wanna…” Tony hesitated.

“Double date?” Gob said quickly. Tony nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that would be cool.” he smiled.

“Good. Then we’ll do it.” Tony said. Gob sighed and sagged into the booth chair. “Something wrong?” Tony asked.

“No, I guess I’m just...tired.”

Before Tony could ask him any more, the waitress came by and asked for their orders. Once they ordered, Gob looked back at the boy across from him. “Ready for our illusion at prom?”

“Yeah! It’s gonna be bitchin’,” he said. “The ‘how-dey-do-dats’ will eat it up.”

Gob grinned. “I’ve never heard that term. I like it. Can I use it, or is it like the ‘W’ thing?”

“It’s not my thing. You can say it.”

“Awesome. I love it.”

They got lost in conversation about magic. The way they were talking, an outsider wouldn’t think that they were each other’s competition for prom king. Both of them realized that they wanted to win, but if one were to win over the other, they would still be happy. Their relationship was weird--two unlikely friends who made out sometimes and didn’t speak of it, and they would have to address that really soon. But right now in the middle of this diner, Tony was the only person who made Gob feel happy. And that was all that mattered to him. 

When it came time to leave, Gob dropping Tony off at his house, they shared a look that went on too long, but neither of them gave into the temptation to lean in and close the gap between them. “I’ll see you on prom night, right?” Tony asked.

“Of course, man,” Gob said. His stomach buzzed like he was anticipating a date with a really hot girl, and in a sense, he was, even though the “hot girl” in this situation was not a girl. When he pulled up to his house, he rested his head on the steering wheel and sighed. He knew he couldn’t keep doing this to himself every day.

“I’m in love with Tony Wonder,” he said out loud, to hear himself say it, and he felt a weight lift off his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this chapter was okay, and thank you again for reading xoxox


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI!! sorry i haven't updated this in over 2 months. i hope this extra long ending makes up for it. it is very, very sappy and very, very cheesy. if you are looking for anything more than mild angst, this will not be very satisfying to you. but nonetheless i really hope that you all have enjoyed this little story. i know it's not much, but it was a lot of fun to write and i so much appreciate all the support from the comments you all have left! thank you all for reading!

The day of prom had arrived, and Gob had slept into the afternoon like he usually did on weekends. He had been on the phone with Tony, both of them chatting excitedly about their illusion. Eventually they ended up talking about everything and nothing, laughing at each other’s cheesy jokes. At some point, Michael had banged on Gob’s door and told him to shut up because he was trying to sleep, and Gob had to hang up. He walked into the kitchen where everyone was eating or watching TV. 

“Hey brother,” Buster said. 

“Hey Bustie,” Gob replied, “Where’s mother?”

“She went to play bridge with Lucille Austero.”

“Why didn’t you tag along?”

  
Buster looked sad. “She said she needed a break from me.”

“Oh, well, she’ll be back soon, I’m sure,” Gob said, not great at reassuring his siblings. He knew that his mom would probably be out all day, and there would be no one to take pictures of him and his date for prom. That was something parents who loved their kids did. And Gob knew his parents had lots of feelings toward him, but “love” was not one of them.

Michael was eating a sandwich, looking a little dejected. “Morning, Mikey,” Gob said, beginning to rummage through the cabinets.

“It’s noon, Gob.”

“Details,” Gob brushed it off, “What’s wrong?”

“He’s sad because he’s not old enough to go to prom,” Lindsay said.

Michael shot his sister a nasty look. “Shut up, I didn’t say that. I just feel like it’s not fair that you get to go and I don’t.”

“A senior asked me, so I can go. You’ll have your chance, if you ever actually talk to a girl,” Lindsay said. Gob snorted. 

“I talk to plenty of girls,” Michael grumbled, “You guys are just mean.”

“I’ll bring you home a candy from prom or something,” Lindsay promised, not realizing it sounded condescending. She thought she was being rather considerate. 

Gob made cereal (the only thing he really knew  _ how _ to make) and sat next to Michael. “Eve is coming around five. You can talk to her.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t even want to go to prom if you’re doing one of those stupid tricks.”

“They’re illusions, but whatever.”

“I just don’t know how you’re so dumb,” Michael stood up, “You know how embarrassing you’re going to look? No one cares that you do magic! They think it’s weird! You might be graduating, but I have two more years and I’m going to be known as the guy with the weird magician brother.” He grabbed his empty plate, plunked it in the sink, and stomped upstairs.

Gob tried not to look sad. Michael said stuff like that all the time, but not usually so bluntly. His own mom was worse, but still, he felt himself getting angry. What did he do to deserve that? Be born? Gob took his half-eaten cereal and dumped it out, suddenly finding that he had lost his appetite.

In just a few hours, Eve Holt was ringing the doorbell, dolled up in a dark plum dress. Eve’s mother took a few photos (Gob’s parents were still nowhere to be seen) and gushed over how good they looked. “So, we’re going to meet Tony and his date at the restaurant?” Eve asked him.

Gob realized he hadn’t eaten since noon, and his hunger suddenly hit him. He had a bad habit of forgetting to eat. “Oh. Yeah. Let’s get going.”

The drive there was kind of awkward. The dates with Eve in the past had been awkward too, and he usually just went out with her because they spent most of their time making out. But Gob didn’t want to make out with Eve tonight. He really hoped she wasn’t expecting that. He wished he had rented a limo, but he didn’t have the money for that on hand and Lucille was tired of him taking her money to buy stuff like that.

They arrived at the restaurant, one of those Italian places that everyone loved for the endless amount of free breadsticks. Tony and Anna were already waiting for them at a table. When Gob saw Tony, he almost stopped in his tracks. He was wearing such a nice suit--it had to have been expensive--and his hair was styled perfectly. He had a purple rose pinned to his suit vest. Gob tried not to smile in an overly gay way (though he wasn’t sure if you could smile in a gay way. He just wanted to be sure). “Hey,” he said to Tony.

“Hi,” Tony replied. “You look nice. Purple’s a good color on you.”

“Yeah, and you have a purple rose on your suit, it’s like...same! Y’know?” Gob laughed nervously.

“Same,” Tony smiled. Their party was seated. 

“Aren’t you and Gob doing a magic thing?” Anna asked Tony. Her tone wasn’t condescending, and that surprised Gob. 

“Yeah, an illusion,” Tony said. “And it’s going to be amazing.”

“Gob, you should’ve done theatre,” Anna said, “Since you and Tony seem to have a flair for the dramatic.”

Gob chuckled. “I don’t really sing or anything. Not like Tony.”

“You sang that one time you got drunk at Jason’s party last year,” Eve chimed in. Gob had absolutely no memory of that experience.

“I...guess I did.”

“It sounded pretty bad,” Eve was never one to mince words. Gob scoffed, annoyed at his own body for the flush in his cheeks.

Tony was smiling, though. “That would be fun to see. But I don’t think anyone sounds good when they’re drunk, to be fair to Gob.”

“Thanks,” Gob smiled back, secretly glad as the waitress came by to take their orders. He was blushing like an absolute idiot. What else were you supposed to do when a handsome guy in a suit was smiling and being nice to you? 

“I really hope the music is good. It was shitty at homecoming.” Anna said, trying to further the conversation.

“You complain about the music every year,” Tony said.

She threw her hands up. “It’s never good! At homecoming I actually had someone to slow-dance with, and they didn’t play any slow songs.”

“Too bad that guy turned out to be gay,” Tony said.

Anna sighed. “Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t go after him, he’s hot.”

“He’s not really my type,” Tony said, his eyes darting to look at Gob before shying away. Gob took a long, long sip of his coke (there was no way he could’ve gotten alcohol, so he had to make do) to prevent himself from saying anything stupid. Their food came eventually, and they returned to making small talk.

“How’s your food?” Eve asked Gob.

“It’s good,” he replied. Gob rarely ate, not because he was trying to lose weight or didn’t like how he looked. He just always forgot or was out of the house or didn’t want to sit at the table with his family. When he did eat a lot, he was usually high or hadn’t eaten for several hours. His only real meal was school lunch, so any food tasted good to him compared to that.

“It’s okay but it’s not real Italian food,” Tony said. Anna laughed.

“You’re so snobby.”

“You’re Italian? I thought you were Jewish?” Gob said, because he was stupid.

“You know you can be more than one thing, right?” Tony laughed. “I’m Italian and Jewish on my mom's side and German on my dad's."

“Oh! Cool,” Gob said. “What’s real Italian food like, then?”

“I dunno, it’s hard to explain. Maybe you can come over sometime and my mom will make some for us.” Tony suggested.

Anna nodded. “His mom is really nice.”

Gob tried to imagine what having a nice mother would be like, but it seemed like a strange and foreign concept. Moms were only  _ really _ nice when they were characters on a dumb sitcom with a laugh track; at least that’s what Gob assumed. “Most people don’t want me to meet their parents. For some reason,” he said to Tony.

“My mom would like you. She likes everyone, but I think she’d really enjoy being around you.”

Gob smiled. “My mom would hate you, but she hates everyone, so I hope you wouldn’t take it personally.”

“You’ve told me enough about your mom that I wouldn’t expect anything other than hatred,” Tony said. He chuckled a little bit when he saw that Gob was already halfway through his plate of lasagna. “Should we get dessert after this?”

“I’m already full,” Eve said. “None for me.”

“I’ll have some,” Gob said. Anna also declined Tony’s offer.

Tony pulled out the dessert menu. “What about the chocolate cake? Gob, wanna share a piece?”

“Sure, I might eat it all, but sure.” Gob replied, mouth full of food. Eventually, once everyone was pretty much done with their main course, Tony asked the waiter for a piece of chocolate cake. When it came, Tony set in the middle of the table, letting Gob take the first bite. “This is really good.”

Tony cut a small bite for himself, not disregarding the small flush of pink on Gob’s cheeks. Something about sharing food with the guy you most definitely had a gay crush on felt so intimate and also like they were in some cheesy 1950’s movie. When they were done, their checks came. Gob told Eve that he’d pay for both of them. Sure, he didn’t really like her that much, but he wasn’t some chauvinistic pig (or at least, that’s what he thought). They all piled into their respective cars and drove to the dance.

On the way, Gob remembered suddenly that he was doing an illusion with Tony. He got that buzzing feeling of anticipation that spread over his whole body. “Why is your leg shaking?” Eve asked.

“Oh, I’m just, uh, thinking about the illusion I’m gonna do with Tony. It’s gonna be awesome.”

“I forgot you were doing that. Um, is it gonna be really embarrassing? Because all my friends know I’m gonna be with you.”

Gob scoffed. “It’ll be the opposite of embarrassing! We’re the best magicians at the school, you know.”

“I think you’re the only magicians at this school…”

“Whatever, Eve. You’ll love it.”

They arrived at the hotel where the prom was being held. Gob parked and met Tony and Anna in the lobby. Eve and Anna got caught up in complimenting each other’s dresses and hair, and the conversation developed into talking about school and other things. Gob glanced over to Tony, who was pacing a little bit. “Hey,” Gob said. “What’s up?”

“Oh, uh, just thinking about the magic.”

Gob nodded. “I am too. But I think you’ll do great.”

“You will too. You have amazing stage presence. You know that, right?” 

“I do,” Gob said, but hearing it from Tony made all the difference. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Are you worried about prom royalty? I know you really wanted to be king.” Tony asked.

“A little. I don’t really care,” he lied. Secretly, he would be fine if Tony won it (if a little bit disappointed--he liked to win!), and knowing how popular he was with the many theatre kids, Gob kind of expected Tony to win. 

“If I could vote...I’d vote for you,” Tony said.

Gob raised an eyebrow. “And not yourself?”

“Well, maybe I’d vote for myself. But if I could vote for anyone besides myself it would be you. It’s just a stupid crown, but you’ve been a really good friend to me, I don’t think you know how nice you’ve been,” Tony said, suddenly stopping his pacing and looking at Gob. “It’s kind of surprising how easy you are to talk to.”

He smiled, feeling a weird pain in his chest. He always got those when he thought about Tony--like his heart was having an erection. He guessed it was probably love, though thinking about the possibility of him actually  _ loving _ Tony was kind of scary. “I guess we’re more same than we think,” Gob replied. 

“Yeah. Same.” Tony grinned. Eventually they started letting people into the dance. It was about an hour and a half until Gob and Tony were going to go on for their illusion, so the two of them and their dates just danced and temporarily let themselves forget about everything else.

When it was time for the illusion, Gob was flitting around like a bee. “Just relax,” Tony said, but his illusion-partner wasn’t listening. “We’ve practiced this a lot.”

“I know. I always get like this before shows. I haven’t even done a show since...a really long time,” Gob pivoted on his heels and started pacing, much like Tony had been doing earlier. Tony took his shoulders and whirled him around. He stared right at Gob’s stupidly pretty eyes. 

“We’re gonna be okay. You’re great, I’m great.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we are great,” Gob exhaled. The way Tony was looking at him made Gob want to lean down and kiss him, but he couldn’t do that now. He simply settled for, “You’re the best, Tony.”

“That’s a pretty big compliment from someone who thinks they’re the best,” Tony winked. Then Principal Johnston was announcing them and they had to go on. Gob spotted Jason and the others in his friend group, who were looking at him skeptically, some of them nudging each other and laughing at the spectacle. But the sound of “The Final Countdown” starting up drowned out all his thoughts and he focused on nothing besides the show and Tony. 

When they finished, the applause was louder than expected. All the theatre kids cheered and yelled Tony’s name. Gob looked over to his fellow magician, who might as well have been glowing. They exited the stage, and the principal shouted into the mic that prom royalty would be announced in five minutes. Tony pulled Gob away from the dance floor, to a corner where nobody else was. “That was amazing!” he shouted.

Gob was smiling so much his face hurt. “Yeah, it was pretty good. Your friends looked really happy.”

“They were! You know, I was nervous too. But it all worked out. I’m glad I did this with you. You’re the best.” Tony said.

“You’re the best! Tony, I--” Gob said, but his words got caught in his throat. He couldn’t say what he wanted to. It wouldn’t be right. “I, um, nevermind. Let’s get out there, they’re gonna announce the prom king.”

Tony looked confused, and slightly disappointed. Gob felt guilty for leaving him hanging, but he wasn’t going to confess his love to him this way. Or any way. He only just admitted it to himself a few days ago. It was the first time he had ever felt like he was out of someone’s league. Gob made his way back to Eve’s side with his head still full of annoying thoughts. She smiled. “That was good,” she shouted over the music. “The magic show.”

“Thanks,” he forced a grin. Principal Johnston was taking her spot at the mic again, a card in her hand. Gob’s palms started to sweat. Tony and Anna were walking up to him; Tony looked nervous too. The prom queen was announced first. To no one’s surprise, it was Sally Sitwell, who acted like she had just won an Oscar as she walked up to the stage to receive her plastic crown. When the principal prepared to announce the prom king, Gob heard the group sitting by Jason start chanting his name. Tony looked up at him and smiled, and even began chanting himself. Gob felt like he could cry. The principal calmed the crowd down.

“We have a tie. It’s been a long time since this has happened,” she said. “We can have the two share the title, or do a second vote.” The crowd erupted, none of their suggestions intelligible. “We don’t really have the time to make more ballots, so I think we should announce the two kings. Your Newport High School prom kings are...George Oscar Bluth and Anthony Wunderlich.”

Gob had no idea who ‘Anthony Wunderlich’ was, but he felt an incredibly rush as he ran up to the stage. Sally was smiling politely at him, and for some reason, Tony was next to him onstage. The principal gave them their crown--one singular crown, since they didn’t have an extra, and the two of them held it up for the crowd to see. “I suppose for the dance you two will have to...take turns,” the principal said, laughing at the absurdity of it all. 

The music started playing, some pop ballad that Gob knew Lindsay liked. He looked for her in the audience (they had been avoiding each other) and she, to his surprise, didn’t look venomous. He shot a smile in her direction, but Tony was pushing him towards Sally and he reluctantly took her in his arms. They swayed to the music in front of everyone; eventually, a few couples started joining in on the dance floor. About halfway through the song, Gob let Sally go and Tony stepped up to dance with her. He could see some people laughing; with heels on, Sally was taller than Tony. Thankfully the sound was drowned out by the music. They danced until the music ended, then there was applause and cheers and an upbeat song started up and everyone flooded onto the dance floor.

When Gob exited the stage, he immediately pulled Tony aside, out of the ballroom and into a quiet hallway. “Oh my God! First of all, your name is Anthony...Wunder-something?”

Tony looked embarrassed. “My real name is Anthony Wunderlich, yeah. I started going by Tony Wonder when I got into magic, like a stage name?”

“Why didn’t I know?”

“Because we’ve never had a class together so you’ve never had to hear a teacher address me that way. It’s not like Wonder is a real last name,” he laughed. “Also, your name is  _ George Oscar? _ ”

“Yeah, I hate it, too. I was named after my dad and his twin brother, but at some point my family started calling me Gob.”

“Well, as long as you don’t call me Anthony, I won’t call you George.”

“Sounds good. Also...congrats,” Gob had almost forgot both of them had just won prom king.

“Congrats to you, too. I was honestly surprised. I didn’t think that many people liked me.”

Gob scoffed. “People actually like you. After awhile I kind of realized people only like me because their dads work for mine. Sometimes I think, ‘oh, I’m great’, and I feel great and everything’s great. But then something happens and I remember how no one actually likes me that much.”

“Gob,” Tony butted in. “I like you. I don’t like the people you hang around with, mostly because they were the types to bully me in middle school.”

“They don’t like me,” Gob shrugged. “We’re all going to graduate and forget about each other soon anyway.”

“Do you think we’ll forget about each other?” Tony’s voice dropped in volume, and he looked nervous again.

“I don’t want to. ‘Cause you’re my friend, and we’re same, and I’malsokindofinlovewithyou but that’s not important--” Gob stammered.

“Wait, say that again?” 

He cleared his throat. “I said it wasn’t important.”

“It’s important to me.” Tony said.

“I-I said,” Gob focused on a poster on the wall across from him and prepared for the worst, “That I’m kind of in love with you. At least I am.”

Tony laughed, and Gob’s thought he was going to throw up. He was being laughed at again. Of course Tony didn’t like him; Tony probably had all the other gay guys in the theatre department falling over him all the time. Why would he settle for someone like Gob? “Gob, are you okay? You’re staring off into space.”

“Oh, I--yeah, I’m okay.”

“Well, you must’ve not heard. I’m kind of in love with you too.”

“Wha--” Gob choked out. “Y-you are?”

Tony scoffed. “Yeah. What do you think we should do about that?”

“What should we do? Wh-wha...I dunno…”

Tony hesitantly cupped Gob’s face with his hands. “Because I kinda wanna kiss you.”

“Yeah. I want that, too,” Gob replied, voice low and breathy. Though it had been only about a week since they last kissed, as soon as their lips met, Gob realized he had forgotten how nice it felt. He grasped handfuls of Tony’s suit coat as they kissed again and again. Tony pressed a hand against Gob’s chest after a few minutes and they pulled away.

“I don’t want to get caught,” Tony said. “Should we go dance some more?”

Gob listened; they were playing a slow song. “It’s slow. Everyone’s gonna be slow-dancing. Let’s at least wait for a fast one.”

“Do...do you wanna dance?”

Gob found himself nodding, letting Tony wrap his arms around his neck as his hands instinctively went to his waist. “You know, it’s weird,” Gob mused, “I didn’t think I was gay. ‘Cause I’ve had sex with  _ a lot _ of girls.”

“You don’t have to just be gay. You could be bisexual.” Gob nodded, despite not really knowing what that was. “But, you don’t have to decide right now. I know your parents are kinda shitty and your friends are too. Sorry if that’s rude.” Tony said.

“Eh, it’s okay. I don’t know, I just want to be with you,” Gob said, wondering what it was about Tony that made him want to be so completely honest. 

“I want to be with you, too. Are you going to an afterparty after this?”

“I was going to, but I don’t really want to anymore.”

“We can go to that diner? And just...sit and talk? About anything.” Tony offered.

Gob smiled. “Yeah. Sitting and talking sounds nice.”

* * *

Eve ended up going with Jason’s group to the afterparty. Gob apologized for not being around much during the dance, but it didn’t seem to bother her too much. As they planned to leave, he saw Tony talking with Anna, who had a knowing, pleased smile on her face. Tony walked up to him.

“Anna’s taking her car home, so I guess you’re my ride,” he said.

“Well, what are we waiting for then?” Gob said. They walked to the parking lot; when Gob realized it was dark outside, he fumbled for Tony’s hands and their fingers interlocked briefly. “Are we...a thing?” Gob asked as soon as they got in the car.

“We don’t have to be anything. I’m just glad that we came clean about our feelings.”

“I want to be a thing, I just...I’m worried I’ll let you down,” he put the car in drive. “I’m good at doing that.”

“Don’t be worried. You know how you said sometimes you feel like you’re great? I see you as great. Not all the time, but who is?”

“God. You’re so smart. You always know what to say. I love you. Is it weird to hear me say that? Because I want to keep saying it,” Gob rambled, a little bit because he was nervous, but mostly because he was on cloud nine. Tony liked him--loved him, back. And they had won prom king. And their illusion went well. And Gob didn’t feel so scared anymore. 

“It is a little weird, but in a good way. I want you to keep saying it. Because I love you.” Tony smiled.

“Same. I mean, I feel the same.” Gob said.

Tony chuckled and turned to look at Gob, silhouetted by the moon, eyes locked on the road. Tony smiled and repeated, “Same”, as they continued to drive. It was safe to say that prom was a success for them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the extra-happy ending lol. it didn't feel right ending it any other way. it is 2 AM and i'm about to crash, but thank you all for reading and leaving comments! y'all are the best xoxoxox

**Author's Note:**

> gob is so gay and so, so dumb. i really like comments so please leave one if you are so inclined! thanks for reading! xoxoxo


End file.
